On my way to work today I was thinking that my suit needed to be cleaned.  I stopped by the desk before leaving the building to enquirer about dry cleaning pickup and drop-off.  Helpfully they handle everything so I can just leave it with them in the morning and pick it up when I come home from work.

However, today I checked the weather, looks like a great day sunny weather with no clouds in the sky or expected.¬† About lunch that all changed.¬† Started to rain a bit but I wasn’t bothered because I was inside.¬† I did think about how I had left my umbrella at home but hoped the rain would stop before I had to walk home.¬† I wasn’t that lucky.¬† On the positive note my suit has been washed, but definently not dry cleaned.

It wasn’t an overly heavy rain, but walking for 15 minutes left me thuroughly drenched. Now I have my umbrella and will be carrying it with me to work, even on the hottest of days (it provides shade too).¬† I feel somewhat foolish because this isn’t even the first time this has happened.¬† The other time was on the way to work though so I didn’t have dry clothes to change into.¬† The suit drys pretty quickly though only a couple hours of sitting at my computer dripping.

I canceled my Cableone internet service in October. Everything went well, I even had a five dollar credit. They sent me a check, I cashed it and thought everything was finished. For the last two months they have sent me emails saying that direct pay has failed to go through. OF COURSE IT FAILED I DON’T HAVE AN ACCOUNT WITH YOU! Anyway, after calling in and getting them to remove direct pay, delete my bank account and email details they wouldn’t delete all of my account information. Since they require the last four letters of your social security number I wanted it removed as well. I am trying to come up with a way to remember a “random” four letter code for each business so I never have to actually give my SSN again. Ok, since I am not opening any more accounts in the states I shouldn’t have to worry about it but I have so I thought I would write some ideas down. One idea would be to start every code with the same number, say 0. I have never seen a SSN with 0 in it, and if they store it as an integer it will only be a 3 digit code. Then take either the name of the company, in this case Cable one, and convert it like a text message, but change the digit based on the position in the code. Or, just keep it simple and convert the name of the company like you would dial it as a phone number. 2225. Simple, easy to figure out when they ask, and they don’t know your SSN. Banks are the only business that I know of that actually needs your SSN to comply with the law. Other than that protect your information.

I am looking for some honest feedback on some medication. I have done extensive research and think this will help with problems I have been having but wanted to know if anyone else has used Panexa and what their experiences were. Please let me know. http://www.panexa.com/

I have been craving a pizza for the last couple days but there is nowhere close to walk to that I found online.¬† I was walking though a food court and saw a small pizza place so I was excited and looked over their menu.¬† The obvious missing pizza was the standard pepperoni.¬† I figured every pizza place has to have it, even if it isn’t on the menu and I just ordered it. The first person (the owner) says ok and goes back to make it.

The second person who is taking the order and payment asks what pepperoni is.¬† Oh, they call it salami over here but they don’t have any spicy salami.¬† I tell them it is ok and just to make it a little spicy with herbs for me.¬† They did an amazing job and it was a great pizza, but I will miss not having anymore pepperoni.

I know this is normal for a lot of people but three days of constant rain seems a bit much.  Coming from Boise to summer down here I was expecting less.  Maybe I just got unlucky but I guess it has been raining a lot even before I arrived.  Hmm, I think I should start enjoying the rain before I move to New Zealand because it is more frequent there.

Tomorrow I am taking a train to the Blue Mountains.  It is supposed to rain the three days I am there but I think I will still enjoy it.  Not quite ready to go to Melbourne yet.  I hope there are some good hikes and I have plenty of wet weather gear so I think I will be fine.  I hope the visibility is good even in the rain so I can get some more pictures for everyone.

Ok, so after traveling for a little while I found that I have no imagination for cooking.¬† The requirements for backpackers is a little strange so it is a little difficult to find good recipes. I need a single serving (or two) recipes with no leftovers that don’t require an oven.¬† A few things i have found over the last weeks:

• Vegetables/fruit are great because they are easy to portion.
• Pasta or rice make a good bases but if you are eating them all the time it gets old.
• Meat is hard to buy in single portions but when cooking with someone it works well.
• Salad is easy, inexpensive, healthy and stores well in a fridge.¬† It needs something else or it gets boring.

So, if you have any ideas for great single serving meals please let me know.  Variety is a good thing.

I setup a Facebook account today so I could keep in touch with all the people I meet traveling.  I have to say I was much impressed by the import feature and how easy it was to see all of your contacts that already have accounts.  I added myself with three email addresses, maybe four.  Hopefully they are the ones people know so they can find and add me.  I guess that is a problem with giving everyone a different email address.
While I am signing up for social networks, I was wondering if there were any others I should join?  I have gotten a couple invites to bebo and shelfari but want to know more than one person on each if I am giving out an address.

So a day after I get here I am looking for some things in my luggage and realized that I was missing a couple things. Nothing too big but just disconcerting when only two things are missing from your bag. They were at the top and my bag was searched twice going through the airports. So I went out and purchased a towel and still need to go grab a new bathroom kit. It gives me something to do today. I think I will be leaving Brisbane tomorrow but I have no clue where I am going. Who knows, somewhere with less rain I hope.

So I was listening to random shuffle on my IPod and this came on. It confused me for a while trying to figure out who the hell it was. Turns out I didn’t know them. They drunk dialed the wrong number three times and left me that message one night a couple days after Christmas. I put it on my IPod because it puts a smile on my face every time I hear it. Simple Pleasures.